We’re so excited to announce that in partnership with the Texas Rugby Union (TRU) and the Austin Valkyries there will be a L1 Referee course and L200 Coach course in Austin, TX on April 21-22. Also that weekend the Valkyries are hosting HARC, Detroit and Chicago for round 3 of the USA Rugby Gold Cup competition. We hope you’ll join us for the highly anticipated rugby matches and participate in either or both courses!

Saturday April 21st will have the L1 Officiating Course. As a referee, Kat Roche recently moved to Texas from Florida may be a bit biased, but she commented:

Refereeing is an incredible way to be a part of high-level rugby and get to travel and see rugby all across the country (and world!). There are so many different levels of refereeing and you don’t have to be dreaming big in order to take this course. Maybe you just want to referee youth games on Sundays – this course will teach you the basics of keeping players safe and the game fun!

Sunday April 22nd will be the L200 Coaching Course. All clubs must have a L200 certified coach in order to be CIPPed with USA Rugby and many clubs (especially women’s and youth) have problems filling these requirements. Now is your opportunity to get certified and begin your journey to educate and inspire the next generation of players!

Both courses will be fully attended by and run by women in the rugby community so we need YOUR help to fill them up. Hopefully we will keep adding exciting things to the weekend schedule as this program grows, but we need your help to do it!

The recording of the 2017 Global Law Trial Webinar is up and available here for you to view, along with the video clips from the presentation and the PDF of the power point. You will also find a video from World Rugby and High Performance Referee Manager Alain Rolland covering all the new laws in effect for competitions this fall. Enjoy..

Please review the newly released Game Management Guidelines from USA Rugby for 2017. Though the material is developed for referees, it is applicable to all stakeholders of the game including players and coaches. Please download the file and read through the updates:

Pre-course Registration Requirements. Students must complete the following World Rugby online modules available at the World Rugby Passport website. First, register with WR on their Passport website that you will access with the noted links. After completing each module, download the certificate you will receive from WR and email it to education@usarugby.org where it will be uploaded into your USA Rugby member profile. The three WR modules to be completed in order to register for this course are:

Pre-course Registration Requirements. Students must complete the following World Rugby online modules available at the World Rugby Passport website. First, register with WR on their Passport website that you will access with the noted links. After completing each module, download the certificate you will receive from WR and email it to education@usarugby.org where it will be uploaded into your USA Rugby member profile. The three WR modules to be completed in order to register for this course are:

The Rugby Committee has approved the use of the following World Rugby Global Law trials for seven a side rugby tournaments played in the USA and leading to a USA National Championship. These trials are to go into effect in the USA as of March 1st, 2017. World Rugby have approved their use in domestic 7s tournaments in the USA.

The original trial start date would have put the adoption of these trial laws into effect in the middle of our National 7s tournaments, and rather than change laws mid-stream we have opted to bring the law changes in early and operate the entire tournament set under the new laws.

Each of the law trials, and their specific law segment are listed below:

Law 5 Time

Add to 5.7(e) If a penalty is kicked into touch after time has elapsed without touching another player, the referee allows the throw-in to be taken and play continues until the next time the ball becomes dead.

Law 8 Advantage

Add to 8.1(a) When there are multiple penalty infringements by the same team, the referee may allow the captain of the non-offending team to choose the most advantageous of the penalty marks.

Law 9 Method of Scoring

9.A.1 (points values)

Penalty Try. If a player would probably have scored a try but for foul play by an opponent, a penalty try is awarded. No conversion is attempted.

Value: 7 points

Law 19 Touch and Lineout

• A player who is attempting to bring the ball under control is deemed to be in possession of the ball.

If a player jumps and knocks the ball back into the playing area (or if that player catches the ball and throws it back into the playing area) before landing in touch or touch-in-goal, play continues regardless of whether the ball reaches the plane of touch.

If the ball-carrier reaches the plane of touch but returns the ball to the playing area without first landing in touch, play continues.

If the ball has passed the plane of touch when it is caught, then the catcher is not deemed to have taken the ball into touch. If the ball has not passed the plane of touch when it is caught or picked up, then the catcher is deemed to have taken the ball into touch, regardless of whether the ball was in motion or stationary.

Sevens specific variations

Law 5 Time

Finals should last no longer than seven minutes each half (rationale is player welfare – the evidence shows that a disproportionate number of injuries take place in the second half of finals. Injuries per minute are higher in the second half of finals as opposed to the first half and throughout normal matches of seven minutes each way.)

Law 13 Kick off and Restarts

The restart kick must be taken within 30 seconds of a penalty kick or dropped goal being attempted where the kick is successful or goes dead. FK

Law 19 Touch and Lineout

Teams must form a lineout within 15 seconds from the time the referee indicates the place where the throw-in will take place. FK

Law 15 Scrum

Teams must be ready to form a scrum within 15 seconds from the time the referee indicates the mark of the scrum. FK

Law 21 Penalty and Free Kicks

A penalty or free-kick must be taken within 30 seconds of being awarded.

Please review the newly released Game Management Guidelines from USA Rugby for 2017. Though the material is developed for referees, it is applicable to all stakeholders of the game including players and coaches. Please download the file and read through the updates:

Please review the newly released Game Management Guidelines from USA Rugby for 2017. Though the material is developed for referees, it is applicable to all stakeholders of the game including players and coaches. Please download the file and read through the updates:

The TRRA would like to congratulate Joey Swatzell and Cole Jones on being selected to attend the South Africa REFS Academy in Stellenbosch, South Africa

Both Joey Swatzell and Cole Jones will spend three months at the SARefs Academy which is one of the worlds premiere rugby referees training academies. The SARefs Academy endeavors to train young referees to attain a very high standard of refereeing, creating young, competent referees who will serve the game of rugby proudly.

This is the only institution where a referee can expect to have their pick of 26 hostel games per week, not to mention WP League and school games on weekends as well as enjoying access to the University’s Gym, Vision lab, and a curriculum developed specifically for referees.

“This is an incredibly historic moment for Texas and the entire United States. Texas becomes the first Local Referee Society to send referees to South Africa for the best training on the planet” said TRRA Chairman Butch Neuenschwander.

The TRRA would like to acknowledge both the Texas Rugby Union and Houston Youth Rugby Association for making significant contributions to the TRRA Ref Academy Fund as well as the SWC, LSC, Rugby Texas conferences and our sponsor Ruck Science . In addition to this generous support, we would also like to recognize the TRRA referees that have been donating their match fees to the TRRA Development Fund.

The TRRA Ref Academy was set up to provide young referees with the highest level of training and to ensure that our partners in the Texas Rugby community have access to quality match officials for years to come. It is through the continued support of the Texas rugby community that this effort of raising the level of rugby match officials in Texas will continue to be a success.

National Panel Referee Scott Green explains “The training and development of referees is a long and somewhat difficult process that requires a considerable amount of time and resources. With most referees already busy doing their own matches on Saturdays it becomes near impossible to provide our referees with the level of coaching needed to improve in a timely manner. Attending the SARefs Academy addresses this by allowing the TRRA to expose it’s referees to the number of matches and training that would normally take 3 years in Texas effectively cutting their development time by more than half. Its a win win for everyone in the rugby community”.

If you would like more information on how to be considered for SA Refs Academy or if you want to support the TRRA Ref Academy Fund by donating please contact the TRRA Chairman.

About the TRRA

The TRRA services the Texas Rugby Geographic Union and the Red River Rugby Conference. This includes teams from Texas, Oklahoma, Louisiana and Arkansas.

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Referee contact information can be found by registered users of the new calendaring system, Whostheref.com. Once logged in, go to Contacts and change the Roles dropdown to be Referee and choose Find.

World Rugby values to play by:

It is through discipline, control and mutual respect that the Spirit of the Game flourishes and, in the context of a Game as physically challenging as Rugby, these are the qualities which forge the fellowship and sense of fair play so essential to the Game’s ongoing success and survival.
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